Summary: A Naval veteran arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future - until he is tantalized by The Cause and its charismatic leader.The
Master is the latest film by American filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson. The movie
comes after a gap of five years following Anderson’s
highly successful outing in There Will Be Blood (2007). The Master stars Joaquin
Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams in pivotal roles. Anderson is one of the
few commercial filmmakers alive today who write their own screenplays. And perhaps that’s
the reason why he has not been very prolific as a filmmaker—yielding only once
every 4-5 years. The Master also marks the return of Joaquin Phoenix from a
self-imposed acting break. The movie presents the tale of Freddie Quell (Joaquin
Phoenix)—a WWII Naval veteran on the brink of a mental breakdown. Freddie's is a dying breed that finds it hard to adjust to the
sanities of a post-war civilized world. The excruciating pain and mental trauma that a
soldier experiences during a war is irreversible and often enough to drive him
crazy.

Joaquin Phoenix as Freddie Quell in The Master

Freddie
has had a troubled past but the war has broken him completely. Freddie’s
pitiful, perverted mental state can be best described by the two bizarre
scenes presented at the beginning of the film. In the first, Freddie is
shown masturbating in front of a sand sculpture of a woman which he perversely
seems to use as a substitute for a love doll. In the second one, Freddie is
shown imbibing a certain fluid (most likely gasoline) directly from the fuel
tank of a Navy vessel. Apparently, Freddie is dipsomaniac with a morbid liking
for dangerous cocktail drinks which he prepares by mixing alcohol with toxic
substances like paint thinner. After being relieved from the US Navy, Freddie
gets the job of a photographer at a local joint, but is soon fired after he, in
a drunken state, assaults one of the customers. Freddie subsequently finds a
job on a cabbage farm where a worker dies after drinking a lethal doze of one
of his cocktail drinks. After being chased off the farm by a seething mob of workers,
Freddie stows away on the private yacht of Lancaster Dodd aka “The Master” (Philip
Seymour Hoffman)

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lancaster Dodd in The Master

Dodd
is the charismatic leader of a philosophical movement called “The Cause” and is
popular among his disciples by the sobriquet “The Master”. His controversial
metaphysical theories have divided the society into two factions: a very large
section which is completely opposed to his ideas and a very small section which
hails him as a visionary. Dodd’s enigmatic character is based on L. Ron Hubbard—the
American pulp fiction author and the controversial founder of the Church of Scientology. Like Hubbard, Dodd is also
a polymath. In one of the scenes in the movie, Dodd introduces himself to
Quell, “I am a writer, a doctor, a nuclear physicist and a theoretical
philosopher, but above all, I am a man, a hopelessly inquisitive man, just like
you.” Lancaster Dodd likes spending his time in his yacht cruising as it allows
him to remain close to his clique of adherents and disciples—which also
includes his wife, son, daughter, and son-in-law—far away from the
intellectually inferior majority that dare question his credibility.

A Still from Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master

Dodd
develops an instant liking for Quell and allows him to stay on his yacht. He also
develops a taste for Quell’s brand of toxic booze and even asks him to prepare
a larger quantity of it the next time around. Dodd also begins to apply a
method called “processing” to help treat Quell. Dodd describes it as some kind
of reverse hypnosis that treats the patients by purging the worries hidden deep
inside the subconscious. Over the course of time Quell grows exceedingly fond
of “The Master” and his methods. For the second time in his life (after his
stint in the US Navy), Quell sees a cause worth fighting for. He begins to show
a kind of jingoistic fervor for “The Cause”. Anyone who dares to oppose “The
Master” and his preaching will have to first deal with him. What follows is a hypnotic
journey of self-realization which will either consume Quell or will make him
the true master of his fate.

A Still from Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master

The
Master is a multifaceted work of cinema that can be enjoyed at so many levels. The
Master has a sense of randomness attached to it that makes it a very difficult
film to interpret. It may appear to have several interweaved layers to one
viewer, and yet appear completely hollow to another—depending purely on the
viewer’s understanding and interpretation. Cinema, like Literature, is a
powerful medium that can be used to explore an array of different subjects
simultaneously. In The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson uses the medium in a manner
it has seldom been used in recent times in American cinema. He makes a
commendable attempt at tackling spirituality, metaphysics, empiricism, existentialism
and nihilism, all in one go—a remarkable feat that Terrence Malick had achieved
in his Palme d’Or winning masterpiece The Tree of Life(2011). If Malick’s was the
work of an artist working at the height of his creative mastery then Anderson’s surely is the
work of an upcoming artist toiling hard to attain that level of mastery.

A Still from Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master

The
Master works well on both the technical and emotional fronts—another rarity for
an American film. The movie’s cinematography, music and editing are all
topnotch, and complement each other really well. The acting is awe-inspiring to
say the least and is quite easily one of the strongest points of the movie. Also, there's enough room for character development. Like the character of Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood, Dodd and Quell are both haunted by their abject solitude. They are pariahs of the society who try and find solace in each other's company. While the relationship that the two of them share is explicitly platonic in nature, an undercurrent of homosexual impulse cannot be ruled out.

Amy Adams as Peggy Dodd in The Master

Joaquin
Phoenix is electrifying in the role of a lifetime. He takes great pains in
conjuring up his self-loathing, verminous, reclusive alter ego as he himself
gets lot in the role. The attention that he seems to have paid to perfect
Freddie’s distorted mannerisms, and the nuances and subtleties needed to play
such a complex part is nothing short of exemplary. While some may find it a wee bit over-the-top, Phoenix’s
performance is by far the best of the year and even overshadows Daniel
Day-Lewis’ sublime portrayal in Steven Spielberg’s biopic, Lincoln(2012). Philip Seymour Hoffman is
outstanding in the role of Lancaster Dodd and steals each and every scene he is
a part of. Anderson
elicits strong performances from the supporting cast especially Amy Adams who
is an absolute treat to watch as Dodd’s exacting wife, Peggy.

A Still from Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master

Overall,
The Master is an endlessly fascinating work of cinema that may require multiple
viewings to grasp its deeper meanings. The Master is undoubtedly the best film
to have come out of the English-speaking world in the year 2012. It reaffirms Anderson's position as one of the best US directors alive; he looks all set to join the likes of Malick. Anderson’s imaginative direction in The
Master reminds one of the singular styles of two of the greatest American filmmakers, Orson Welles and Stanley Kubrick. Perhaps, their legacy has finally found a worthy successor. It’s a real shame that the Academy yet again failed to identify a cinematic gem. The fact that the movie has not
been nominated in the Best Picture category only substantiates the ineptness of
the Academy in segregating topnotch cinema from the heaps of mediocrity. The
Master, like most of Anderson’s
movies, is not meant for everyone. A casual viewer is ought to be disappointed,
for he may find it drab and utterly boring. But, The Master will most
definitely succeed in satisfying the deepest cravings of an intelligent viewer.
The Master with its air of randomness and lack of purpose offers enough food
for thought for the intelligent audience to ruminate long after it is over. Highly
recommended!

Note: This post is a part of Oscar Blogathon being conducted at Paula's Cinema Club. Paul Thomas Anderson's is The Master (2012) is nominated in three categories for this year's Oscars viz. Best Actor (leading), Best Actor (supporting) and Best Actress (supporting).

6
comments:

I am glad to hear that. I am sure that the movie won't disappoint you. The real beauty of the movie is its randomness... it is not limited to depiction of any one person, society, or theme... it transcends any such demarcation. This aberration can easily unsettle a viewer. Having said that, I would love to hear your thoughts once you have watched the movie.

I am glad to hear that. I am sure that the movie won't disappoint you. The real beauty of the movie is its randomness... it is not limited to depiction of any one person, society, or theme... it transcends any such demarcation. This aberration can easily unsettle a viewer. Having said that, I would love to hear your thoughts once you have watched the movie.

Fantastic review. Good interpretations and perfect references, especially to Malik's "Tree of Life." You are right, PT Anderson will be our generation's Kubrick or Orson Welles. Like all of PTA's movies, I am going to watch "Master" multiple times to grasp its meaning fully.

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About Editor-In-Chief

Murtaza Ali Khan is an independent film critic, journalist, columnist, and blogger based out of New Delhi, India. He is the Founder/Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning entertainment blog A Potpourri of Vestiges. He is the Co-Founder of Ed Wood Productions. He has been writing movie reviews at IMDb for over seven years. He is a Columnist at The Huffington Post. He is a Guest Columnist at Cafe Dissensus (New York) and has contributed to publications like The Hindu and The Quint. Previously, he has also contributed to sites like Desimartini and Jamurra Blog. He is also on the guest panel for live discussions on the television channel News X.